


A Visitor

by GoofyGoldenGirl



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Backstory, Caring, Character Study, Cheering Up, Childhood Friends, Children, Cookies, Friendship, Gallifrey, Gen, Hospitals, Illnesses, Kindness, Medical Procedures, Mental Illness, School, The Academy, Visiting, drumming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-25 04:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4946125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoofyGoldenGirl/pseuds/GoofyGoldenGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>What exactly was a friend? </em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Visitor

The pounding was particularly excruciating this morning.

The child who would eventually become The Master rocked back in forth in his bed, the tip of his nose touching his knees, his hands over his ears in a vain attempt to block out the drums.

"Make it stop!" He yelled. "Make it stop!"

The nurses gabbed him by the arms. He squirmed about but was eased back into the bed. He saw the doctor pour the tranquilizer into the syringe.

"I don't want an injection!" He sobbed. "No injections! No injections!"

"Don't worry lamb," one of the nurses took his hand. "This is going to help with the headache. It's just a little pinch that's all."

"It's going to hurt! It's going to hurt!" He howled. 

"Don't worry you'll be alright," the nurse squeezed his hand. "Look at me Koschei. It won't hurt as much if you don't look."

He shut his eyes as the doctor approached him with the syringe. He felt a jab into the crook of his arm. His heart rate slowed and his limbs relaxed. He let out a deep breath. His pupils widened and became glassy. He crumpled back in an almost catatonic state.

The drumming ceased, but the child could not relax. The injection had temporarily taken away his hearing. Confused and frightened, he watched as the nurses' mouths moved without a sound, as the machines kept on recording his vitals without beeping, and as the silence engulfed him.

"Check on him in five," the doctor ordered.

It had been at least three months since Koschei had been admitted to the hospital. Although the doctors and nurses told him that he would be out and about any day now, the boy wasn't stupid. He knew that he wasn't getting better.

_"What do you mean it can't be cured?" He heard his mother ask the doctor when they thought he was asleep the other night._

_"We've tried at least seven different treatments and he isn't responding to any of them," the doctor answered. "If we give him the experimental ones, there's a chance he might regenerate. The only thing we can do is lessen the severity of his symptoms."_

The boy didn't care that regenerating before adolescence carried the risk of deformities in the next life. If it meant that the drumming would stop for good, he would take it in two heartbeats.  
*********************  
He fully recovered past midday. The nurse arrived with lunch; a hunk of bread and soup.

"Come on! Eat!" She told him. "You want to grow up to be a strong Time Lord don't you?"

He wasn't hungry, but made a move to spoon some soup. He had the spoon right on his lips when drumming started again. He flinched. The tray crashed to the ground, spilling over the soup.

"Oh dear," the nurse sighed. "I'll be right back."

She left to find cleaning supplies. Koschei groaned, on the verge of tears again. He huddled his knees in close, squeezing his eyes tight when he heard another nurse say:

"Koschei! You have a visitor!"

A visitor?

The only visitors the boy had were his parents. Who else could it be?

He opened his eyes.

There at the door stood a boy around his age. Tall, wearing black school robes, with light brown hair that never stayed flat even when it was combed, he held a box in his hands.

"Hello Ko!" The boy who would become The Doctor cheerfully exclaimed.

Blinking back tears, the boy who would become The Master only gazed at him with a confused look.

"How are you doing?"

Something hummed in his throat. His lips parted as he asked:

"What are you doing here?"

"I've come to see you!" The boy said. "I've missed you."

"Missed me?" Koschei was surprised. He and the boy had gotten along in the past but they weren't exactly close. Acquaintances but not friends. 

"Of course I have! Class isn't the same without you! There's no one to save us from boring old Zelgal." 

Koschei had been a bit of a class clown before the vortex. The year 2s were placed under the instruction of Professor Zelgal. A crotchety old man whose preferred method of teaching was to read from a tattered book as ancient as himself, his hoarse monotone voice put everyone to sleep.

Koschei used it as a chance to shine. He would interrupt the lessons with nonsensical remarks, leaving the whole class in a giggling fit. When the professor's back was turned, he'd made silly faces and farting noises, smirking when the professor would look around confused to where it came from. But what he was most famous for was his pranks. Covering the blackboard in crudely drawn doodles and sayings, placing whoopee cushions on Zelgal's chair, manipulating the clocks so that the class could get out early, even going as far as to set a swarm of frogs into the classroom. 

He didn't expect that his peers would look to him as some sort of hero. He carried out his jokes and pranks for his own amusement. Not once did he ever care for them. But hearing that he was admired made him smile for the first time in months.

"I wish I could be there," he said. "I hate being cooped up in here."

"Hopefully you'll get out soon," the boy assured him.

"I hope so," Koschei sighed.

They were quiet for a moment.

"How did you get out of class?" Koschei asked. 

"I snuck out during break," the boy answered proudly. 

"Taking a lesson from me?" Koschei's voice almost had the same old mischievous tone it had so long ago.

"Unfortunately I'm not as clever at concealing my intentions as you are," the boy said. "Got spotted just as I was about to go over the fence. I jumped over and ran so fast I thought I was going to regenerate!"

The two boys laughed. Koschei started to cough.

"You alright?" His classmate asked, concerned. 

"I'm fine," Koschei said. "I--I just haven't laughed in a long time. I'm not used to the feeling."

"Then I better stop by more to get you used to laughing again. I'll get you all updated on the shenanigans in class."

"Sounds good," Koschei nodded.

"I almost forgot--here!"

His classmate handed the box over to him.

"Open it!"

Koschei did. Inside were twelve brown cookies.

"My mother sent them to me," the boy said. "But I figured you'd want them more because I heard hospital food is icky."

"Thank you!" He took one and started to munch on it. His teeth chomped down, breaking the cookie into tiny crumbs. It tasted like a combination of vanilla and walnuts, so rich in flavor that he felt like he had floated up into the clouds. He savored every bite.

"These are delicious!" Koschei exclaimed. "I haven't had anything this good in a long time! Everything here tastes like dirt and worms! It's so bad that I throw it out of my sight when they serve it to me."

"Is that why there's soup all over the floor?" 

"I only deserve the best if I plan on staying here long term," Koschei said cockily. "I _am_ a Time Lord after all."

They laughed again.

"I have to get going," his classmate checked his pocket watch. "If I get there before one, maybe my chances of getting detention will be somewhat slimmer." 

"Worst comes to worst: run," Koschei advised.

"You bet I will," the boy started towards the door.

"Wait," Koschei started. "Before you go--why did you come to see me?"

The boy who would become The Doctor wasted no time with his answer:

"Because you're my friend Ko. I'd come sooner but my parents and The Academy wouldn't let me."

"I'm your friend?" Koschei asked.

"I've always thought we were friends! There's no one at school I admire more than you!"

He waved goodbye and started into a run down the hall. Koschei giggled as he waved back.

The nurse returned with a bucket of water and rags.

"Ah, you're sitting up," she remarked as she began to clean. "How do you feel?"

Koschei placed his hand on his forehead. He had not noticed until now that the drumming had stopped in the time that his friend had visited him. 

"I feel good," he said.

"That's good! Did your friend there lift up your spirits?"

Koschei broke out into a smile.

"He did."


End file.
